There has traditionally been two major approaches for representing document content. These approaches include Final Form (e.g. Advanced Function Presentation (AFP) and Portable Document Format (PDF)) and Mark-Up (e.g. Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), Extensible Hypertext Markup Language (XHTML), Extensible Markup Language (XML), ePub, etc.). In a page environment (e.g., print, Acrobat, etc.), the Final Form specification assures precise placement and control of visual appearance, while in a non-page environment a Mark-Up language describes structure and semantics that facilitate adaptation such as reflow (e.g., screen size) and orientation (e.g., portrait or landscape).
The flexibility of the Mark-Up format not only enables web content on a diverse set of devices, but may also be leveraged to address accessibility needs such as low vision (e.g., zoom, contrast), dyslexia (e.g., font), color blindness (e.g., color scheme), and general blindness (e.g., annunciation). Much effort has gone into defining rules for extracting structure and semantics from Final Form documents by retrofitting tags to promote “accessibility” (e.g., PDF/UA). Thus, a derivation of a Mark-Up format from Final Form is fraught with issues, such as dealing with tables that span pages, content “artifacts” (e.g., header, footer, page num., etc.) and reading order for marked content that may otherwise be encountered randomly throughout a data stream. Even when these rules have been clarified, understood and implemented, the Final Form document is ultimately cluttered with unwanted tags. This results in additional steps (e.g., stripping (tags)) prior to print production.
Nonetheless, generalized efforts to tag Final Form data often result in the Mark-Up format being more suitable for one particular need due to disabilities. Ideally, a given document would be developed with alternate formats optimized for an intended use such as printing (for sighted users), annunciation (for blind users), contrast, color-blind, low vision etc. Moreover, fidelity is a concern whenever two or more parties reference a document simultaneously. For instance, content referred to as “Page 3, Paragraph 1” by someone reading a Final Form printout may appear as “Paragraph 8” in alternate Mark-Up.
Consider a use case in which a banking or utilities customer initiates a support call referencing their latest monthly statement. Depending on configured preferences, the customer may have received print, HTML or an alternate (e.g., assessable) format. A document format that effectively links a Final Form document with alternate Mark-Up formatting would enable the call center to access the document in the exact format being used by the customer.
Accordingly, a document format that can simultaneously represent Final Form and an alternate Mark-Up is desired.